Undiscovered Talents
by Erica3
Summary: This is the story of Birchbark's soul-name search


UNDISCOVERED TALENTS

UNDISCOVERED TALENTS

A soft noise woke Crystal up, and she pretended she was still asleep while she peered through her eyelashes to see the cause. It was as she expected: Snowdrop had quietly slipped out of her furs and was now busy crawling through the entrance of the den, convinced she hadn't woken up anyone. Crystal smiled to herself; her daughter was very quiet, but not quiet enough to fool her Hunt mother.

Her smile faded quickly though: Snowdrop had been doing the exact same thing for more than an eight of days now, and the lack of sleep was showing on her delicate face. The promise of the woman she would be was there, but even though she was now eight and six years old, to Crystal she was still her little she-cub. She got up quietly and stared after her daughter as she slipped away among the trees, trailed by her wolf. The rays of the mid-day sun that shone through the trees occasionally reflected off her curly white hair and Crystal continued staring after her until Snowdrop had disappeared completely out of sight.

With a sigh she went back to her furs, and she felt her lifemate's arms embrace her. "She's left again?" Timberdust asked quietly. Crystal only nodded.

"Don't worry, beloved," Timberdust said soothingly. "She doesn't seem troubled, just restless."

"I know," Crystal replied. "You tell me every day." A quick smile crossed her face as she looked into her lifemate's eyes. "And you also tell me every day that this is exactly what you were doing when you went to find your soul name."

"Then why are you so worried, beloved?" Timberdust said, his concern sounding in his voice.

** _She looks so gaunt, Tsem, and she's still so young… How can she go to find her soul name already? And if she's indeed trying to find her soul name, why is she coming back every day?_ **

** _Lin, she is not the first and will not be the last to find her soul name at this age. We just need to give her time. I know how difficult it is for you to hide your worries from her, but you know there is nothing we can do to help her, we can only let her be. She will leave for a few days when she is ready_. ** When Crystal didn't reply, he gently took her chin in his hand and turned her face towards him, locking her green eyes with his grey ones. ** _She is our daughter, Lin, she will be fine. Now go back to sleep_. **

Crystal gave a thin smile, but nodded and pulled her furs more comfortably around her. Sleep would elude her for a while, but deep in her heart she knew Timberdust was right and that there was nothing she could do.

* * * * *

She was woken up again by angry voices, drifting up through the branches and filtering into the den. Within moments of consciously listening to the argument, she was up and struggling into her clothes. Timberdust woke up when she fell over on top of him while she was struggling to get her left leg into her trousers.

"Huh? What's wrong?" he said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Listen," Crystal replied curtly. She stopped for a moment to allow his ears to pick up the noise. Timberdust's eyes flew open in shock.

"Snowdrop is arguing with _Wildstar_?"

"So it seems. Let's go." With that she quickly left the den and disappeared out of sight. Timberdust came immediately after her, not even bothering to put his shirt on.

They arrived at the scene almost simultaneously, joining a small gathering of elves that had already formed. Sweet Tear was holding a bawling Bucksprout, trying to calm the seven-year-old cub with soothing words. Lovemaker was standing slightly behind her, a half-amused smile on his lips as he was looking at Snowdrop, who was standing in front of Wildstar with her hands on her hips, shouting. Wildstar had her arms crossed and seemed to wait until the girl had calmed down a bit before saying anything more.

When Snowdrop paused for breath, Wildstar calmly said: "Finished? Good." Snowdrop drew another breath to say something, but Wildstar raised her hand. "No, don't start again. You shouldn't have hit Bucksprout and that's the end of it." 

Crystal sucked in her breath. "You hit Bucksprout?" she said, incredulously.

"He pulled my hair!" Snowdrop shouted in defence, turning towards her mother.

"That's no excuse for hitting a cub half your age," Crystal said, her voice hard with anger. "You are bigger and stronger than Bucksprout and there's no excuse whatsoever for hitting him."

"But he pulled my hair! He's a little pest and he's always out to annoy me!"

"Even if that was the case, you still shouldn't have hit him. You should have told Sweet Tear and Lovemaker and let them come up with a suitable punishment. I don't want to hear a single word more about it." Crystal met her daughter's challenging stare, and Snowdrop lowered her eyes within moments. She turned around and stalked out of the clearing without another word.

Crystal wanted to follow her, but Timberdust put a restraining hand on her arm and shook his head. He also stopped Wildstar from calling after her with an imploring thought. ** _Please leave her be, my chieftess_. **

Wildstar gave him a surprised look, and Timberdust smiled at her. "She needs a few days on her own," he said. "She'll be fine once she gets back."

When Wildstar raised a questioning eyebrow, he elaborated: "I was restless and irritable too before I went away to find my soul name. It will all pass as soon as she finds it." He turned to Sweet Tear and Lovemaker and said, "I'm sorry that Bucksprout had to be at the receiving end of her irritation."

While the two of them made a reassuring gesture, Wildstar turned and looked at Snowdrop again, by now a tiny, white-crowned figure among the trees. "Her soul name, carver? Are you sure?" she said. "Not many elves find it at her age." Timberdust chuckled.

"I'm very sure, Wildstar," he said. "My daughter knows exactly who she is, she just needs to realise it."

With that he turned around and started climbing back to his den.

* * * * *

Snowdrop stomped into the forest, seething with anger. _That irritating little pest! Always out to bother her, to pull her hair, to pester her!_ Thoughts like these kept milling around in her head for a time while she went further and further away from the Holt. It didn't take too long, however, before her anger started to subside, to be replaced more and more by shame and regret. Deep in her heart she knew that it was just as much her fault as it was Bucksprout's: the younger cub saw his playmate change, grow up, and it confused him. Snowdrop no longer wanted to play games with him, and in his cub-like anger he retaliated by pulling her hair.

Snowdrop sighed. It had hurt, true, but now that her anger had gone she realised that Wildstar and her mother had been right and that she shouldn't have hit him. There was nothing for her to do but turn back and apologise to everyone involved.

She stood still and looked back, with a sudden, strange reluctance in her mind. It was as if some part of her was pulled in some other direction, preventing her from turning back the way she had come. She knew her parents and tribesmembers would worry if she didn't come back soon, but it was just an observation she made in her mind, it suddenly didn't seem all that important. Then a rustling in the underbrush made her stiffen and instinctively reach for her knife, before a waft of scent relaxed her again.

"Flight!" she exclaimed, as her wolf-friend appeared out of the leaves and greeted her enthusiastically. She ruffled the fur in his neck while he whined anxiously.

"Yes, I'm fine, my friend," she reassured him. Then, without thinking a moment longer about it, she climbed on his back and nudged him into a slow trot, away from the Holt.

* * * * *

For three nights she wandered aimlessly among the giant trees that the area around the Holt was rich in. Flight provided food for the both of them, and his occasional, very limited wolf-sendings were all the conversation she had in that time; she was far enough away from the Holt to be out of reach of even the strongest senders. It still didn't bother her. 

All this time, Snowdrop was lost in her own thoughts, yet at the same time more aware of her environment than she had ever been. Smells were sharper, sounds were louder and easier to identify, and she spent those three nights simply enjoying it, enjoying being alive and contemplating anything that came up in her mind. Once she almost encountered a small group of humans, but the low warning growl of Flight and her own nose warned her well in advance and the two of them hid and let them pass. Snowdrop didn't know whether they were Land Lopers or Sky Singers, and she didn't care either. All she knew was that humans were trouble, and that she would be better off not getting involved with them.

It was early into the fourth night when she rode around a sheer cliff face and unexpectedly entered into a small open space, enclosed by birches and with a spring at one end, which emptied itself into an almost perfectly circular pool. The light of the moons filtered through the leaves of the birches and dappled on the slightly rippling water, and Snowdrop knew instantly that she had found the place she had been looking for, although up until then she hadn't been aware that she was searching.

She slid off Flight's back and slowly walked into the grove, marvelling at the beauty of the scene in front of her. There was a rock at the edge of the pool, and she sat down on it, just listening to the soft tinkling of the water.

Whether it was half a night or a heartbeat later Snowdrop didn't know, but she gradually became aware that something had changed. It took her a while to realise what it was, but then she noticed that the grove was no longer as quiet as a hunting Wolfrider, but that the trees had started whispering on a soft breeze. She watched as the wind blew ripples across the pool, blurring her reflection, then suddenly gasped as she realised that the face looking back at her was no longer her own. 

She was looking at a dark-haired woman with flowing curls, which were emphasised by the rippling of the water. As she stared at the woman, the apparition began to raise up from the water, until she was floating in the air in front of her.

**_Don't be surprised, young midwife_,** she suddenly heard a voice say. **_I am Rootmoss._**

Snowdrop vaguely recognised the name from some of the stories she had heard during howls, but was too stunned to think much about it, or the title the spirit elf had given her. "Why are you here?" she whispered.

**_I was drawn to you_,** the spirit replied. **_In life, I was a midwife, just like you will be. I sensed you searching for yourself._**

"A midwife?" Snowdrop became even more confused. "I'm still a cub myself and I've never had one. I haven't Recognized."

**_Neither had I when I realised my calling. It will come to you, you have the talent, and you will have help._** Rootmoss started fading. **_I must go now. Just don't forget this calling, and the other talent you have._**

"Wait!" Snowdrop called. "What other talent?" But the spirit had faded away. Then, unexpectedly, Snowdrop woke up, only then realising she had been asleep. Had it all been a dream? 

No, she decided after a moment. Not an ordinary dream at least. She sat up and stared at her feet, which had made slide marks on the muddy bank of the pool. The wind was still rustling through the trees, and while Snowdrop was sitting there, contemplating her dream, the sound seemed to become louder and louder, until it drowned out her thoughts and started whispering to her.

"Shey…shey…shey," the leaves rustled to her, and Snowdrop immediately felt the sound enter and envelop her heart.

"My soul name," she whispered to herself, a tear trickling down her cheek. She now understood her vision even better, felt, somehow, that she was indeed meant to be a midwife and that she had another talent, something to do with plants and mud…

Snowdrop looked at her feet again, and the muddy clay underneath her shoes. _Marshclay uses clay like that for her pots_, she thought. _In fact…_ She stopped her thoughts, confused. She knew beyond doubt that the clay she was looking at would be excellent for making pots, but how did she know that? She had never made a pot in her life!

She was distracted by a stain she noticed on her left leg. It had been caused by a plant she had crushed with her leg during her dream. Snowdrop recognised the plant as one which Wise Elk and Colorcast used in some of their dyes, and was struck again by a sensation that this plant in particular would serve that purpose excellently. 

Snowdrop looked around and saw more examples of the same plant, but none of them gave her that same feeling of certainty that she had with the first one. She hesitantly dug out the plant, meaning to ask one of the tanners for their opinion.

She sighed and got up, reluctant to go home after her experience, but knowing that there was nothing that kept her here now. Or was there?

Looking around she saw the birches again, their branches overshadowing the pool. The black markings showed clearly on their white bark, and she mentally compared them to the odd combination of her white hair and black eyebrows. There was a cluster of late snowdrops blooming at the foot of the tree, she noticed, smiling at the tiny hanging heads of her namesakes.

Her eyes drifted up to the bark of the birches again, now realising what had made her stay behind. Her smile remained as she called Flight and climbed on his back, now fully ready to go home.

* * * * *

A few days later Crystal and Timberdust were interrupted in their task by a sending from their daughter. It sounded happy, and with a different quality than what they were used to from her.

"Snowdrop!" Crystal exclaimed, dropping everything in her hands and rushing to meet her cub. She didn't want to admit it, but she had been worried. Timberdust followed on her heels, and the both of them swept their daughter up in a tight embrace, which she wriggled herself out of after a few moments. She looked her mother into the eyes.

**_No longer Snowdrop, mother_,** she sent. **_I have a new name now_.**

**_You have found your soul name?**_ Timberdust asked. The girl smiled at him and nodded, then turned towards the several tribesmembers who had gathered. Her eyes sought and found Bucksprout, and she walked up to him.

"I'm sorry I hit you, Bucksprout," she said earnestly. "I won't do it again, if you promise you won't pull my hair anymore." The cub thought for a moment, then nodded happily, all animosity forgotten.

Crystal saw her daughter smile, then look up again, seeking out someone else in the tribe. When she spotted Colorcast, she walked up to her, carefully drawing something from her pocket.

"It's a bit wilted now," she said apologetically, "but I think that this would make good dye for you. I found some other plants like these nearby which I think would be good too." She hesitated for a moment. "Would you mind coming along later and checking whether I'm right? I don't know how I know that these are good, you see." She blushed shyly. Colorcast, having quickly checked the plant, looked up in surprise.

"You're right about this one," she said, sounding slightly astonished. "I'll be happy to come along." She smiled at the white-haired girl, who smiled back and then turned to Marshclay.

"I think I've also found some clay nearby for you," she said. "I think it's good. I'll show you later if you want." Marshclay nodded, surprised at the change in the shy girl. She seemed more confident somehow. She watched as the girl finally turned towards Wildstar and stood in front of her.

"I have found my soul name, Chieftess, as well as my purpose in the tribe. I am to be a midwife." She waited as Wildstar nodded, hiding her surprise.

"We have been without a true midwife for long," she said. "I'm happy to hear that you have found the talent in yourself, Snowdrop."

The girl shook her head. "No longer Snowdrop, Chieftess. With my soul name, I have also found a new name for the tribe to use." She smiled, thinking back at the birches in the little grove. 

"From now on, I shall be known as Birchbark."


End file.
